Hoisting and conveying machine



4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

D. I. CALHOUN.

HOISTING AND CONVEYING MACHINE. No. 549,993. Patented Nov. 19, 1895.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2. D. I. CALHOUN.

HOISTING AND CONVEYING MACHINE.

No. 549,993. Patented Nov. 19, 1895.

MA FHUTULUTIIQWASHINETDN. DL,

@No Model.) 4 sheets-sheet 3. D. I.- CALHOUN. v HOISTING AND CONVEYING MACHINE.

No. 549,993. Patented Nov.'19', 1895.

(No Model.) 4 sheets-Sheet 4.

D. I. CALHOUN. "HOISTING AND CONYBYING MACHINE. No. 549,993. Patented Nov. 19, 1895.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL I. CALHOUN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HOISTING AND CONVEYING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 549,993, dated November 19, 1895.

Application filed April 9, 1894. Serial No. 506,823. (No model.)

To all whom i may concern/.-

Be it known that I, DANIEL I. CALHOUN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hoisting and Conveying Machines, of which the following is a specification. y

My invention relates to improvements in hoisting and conveying machines of that class adapted for use in earth and stone excavating and in the handling of coal, gravel, or other materials requiring to be elevated, moved from point to point,.and dumped.

The objects of the invention and its construction and operation are fully described and explained in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of an apparatus embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the carriage constituting part of the system, certain parts which cooperatewith it being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of the carriage. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of a portion of each of the towers of the apparatus, showing the arrangement of certain rope-su pporting pulleys. Fig. 5 is a top plan of a tripping device which co-operates with the carriage. Figs. 6 and 7 are vertical sections of one of the towers of the apparatus, showing the relation of the operating-ropes and illustrating the two applications of a tension device adapted to take up slack in the ropes; and Fig. S is a similar view of the other tower, showing a different application of the tension device.

In the views, A A are two towers shown in the drawings as mounted on two railwaytracks parallel to each other and to a ditch or other line of excavation lying between them. A track-cable B is stretched taut between the upper ends of the two towers, the ends of the cable being anchored in the towers in any desired manner. On the cable B moves freely a carriage C, supported by two grooved wheels lV VV,which rest upon the cable. The frame of the carriage is preferably made up of two parallel vertical plates lying on opposite sides of the cable and separated by a suitable space, and between these plates is apivoted tumbler by the platform of the tower.

T, formed at one end with a notch N and at its opposite end with a shoulder t, Fig. 3. A pivoted lever L, lying also between the two plates of the carriage, is so placed that when the tumbler T is in the horizontal position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 one ofthe ends ofthe lever rests against the shoulder t and locks the tumbler in position. A draft-rope R has one of its ends fastened to the tumbler T near its pivot and passes under a suspended pulley I and over a stationary pulley P, mounted in the carriage, and thence over a pulley P2, mounted in the tower A, from which it runs to a drum D, operated by an engine E, supported The pulley P is mounted in a hanger H, provided at its lower end with a hook h, adapted to support a bucket or scoop, and at its upper end with a transverse pinp, adapted to engage the notch N of the tumbler T.

When the tumbler T and lever L are in the positions shown in Fig. 3, the raising of the hanger H brings the pin p between the lingers n n above and below the notch N and raises the free end of the tumbler to the horizontal position shown in Fig. 2, when the lever L gine E.

Y It is evident that by means of the drums D D the ropes R R may be so operated as to draw the carriage C in either direction on the cable B, and that if the carriage be held stationary by means of the tail-rope when the parts are in the positions shown in Fig. 3 the hanger H may be raised by means of the rope R until the parts reach the position shown in Fig. 2. In other words, the load attached tothe hanger may be raised and locked to the carriage, and the carriage may then be drawn in either direction by suitable operation of the drums and the draft-rope and tail-rope.

In the operation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 the line of excavation is near the tower A and the dump is between the line of IOO excavation and the tower A, and in operation the excavated Vmaterial is lifted to the carriage, which is held stationary above the point of excavation by the tail-rope, and the carriage is then drawn to the dump, where the material is dropped, after which the carriage returns to receive another load of material. In the operation of such an apparatus I have found it a great advantage to release the hanger and bucket or scoop from the carriage as the latter :moves along the cable toward the point at which it is to be held' during the excavation and lifting of another load, and a device for so releasing the hanger and bucket while in transit is shown and described in my Patent No. 513,082. In that patent, however, the releasing or tripping de'- vice is attached'to a'secondary cable above the track cable, and' while Ihave found in practice that 'the construction so shown is practical I have discovered by more recent' bent into a saddle resting upon the cable and having its two wings Vertical and parallel to each other, the frame being fastened to the cable in anydesired manner.

Between the two wings of the frame is pivoted a normally-vertical latch f, whose lowerl end is free to swing toward the tower A, but is held against oscillation in the opposite direction by means of a stop` f. The lower end of the latch f is below the upper end of the lever L when the latter is in the position shown in Fig. 2, and it is evident that when the lever is in this position its upper end must strike the latch f as the carriage C passes over the frame `F in its movement along the cable.` The tripping device may be placed at any point between the point of excavation and the dump, and as the carriage moves to ward the dump the upper end of the lever L strikes the latch f and swings it out of its normal position, the latch olfering no resistance to the passage of the lever and carriage.

As the carriage returns, however, from the dump toward the point of excavation, the

upper end of the lever Lin passing under the latch f is pressed downward and the opposite end of the lever is thus lifted away from the shoulder t of the tumbler T, the tumbler being thereby' released and the hanger and bucket being allowed to drop downward as the carriage continues `its movement along the track, so that when the carriage reaches a point above the place of excavation the bucket or scoop has reached the ground and is ready to be refilled. Y

In operating the carriage upon a suspended cable traekall the parts are subject to more or less lateral oscillation, and for this reason 1t 1s desirable to provide guides adapted to insure the proper relative -positions of the carriage and the tripping device notwithstanding such oscillation. For this purpose I prefer to provide the frame of the tripping device with bars F F', fastened to the sides of the frame and brought together at their ends, so as to form a point at either extremity, as shown in Fig. The greatest width of the frame F from outside to outside of the bars Fl F should be very nearly the same as the space between the two side plates of the carriage'C, so that when the frame F is fairly between'the side plates of the carriage the lever L is held with certainty in such a position as to strike the latch f of the tripping device.

In operating an apparatus in which the eable is Very long it is sometimes found advisable to support the draft-rope at Asuitable intervals along the cable, and devices for that purpose are illustrated in Fig. 1, in which G G are two hangers, each provided with a wheel V/ at its upper end and a pulley P7 at its lower end.' rlhe wheels \Vf of the two hangers rest upon the cableB and support the hangers, and the pulleys F7support the draftrope. The hanger G/ when free to move runs downthe cable until it reaches the frame F of the tripping device, and its normal position is that shown in Fig. l. The hanger G is fastened to the end of a rope R2, which passes about a pulley P8 in the tower A, thence about a double pulley P, mounted in a carriage C', Fig. 4, and a pulley P10 in the tower A, and thence to a point on the tower at which it is fastened. The carriage C is provided with wheels WW, which rest upon an inclined rope or cable B, fastened to the tower A, this cable servin g as a track for the carriage: The weight of the carriage C holds the rope R? taut, and the'object of the double pulley P9 in the carriage is simply to multiply the'folds of the rope and thereby to decrease the distance through which the carriage must move in taking up any slack'in the rope R2. The weight of the carriage is such as is`not suflieient to balance that of the hanger G, and when all the parts are free to move the hanger G rolls downwardalon the track B until the carriage C reaches its limit of movement toward'the tower A, thev point so reached by the hanger G being its normal position. As the carriage C moves from the position shown in Fig. l toward the tower A it strikes the hangers G G successively and moves them both toward the tower, the slack of the rope R2 thus caused being taken up bythe movement of the carriage C downward along the cable B. Vhen the carriage C moves in the opposite direction, the hangcrs 'G G"move with-it, the hanger G being arrested by the rope R2 when it reaches its limit of movement and the hanger i bein g arrested 'by the tripping-frame F, as already described. These hangers support the draftrope at suitable intervals and are generally sufficient to so divide the slack of the draft- IOO IIO

rope as to prevent any inconvenience therefrom.

In the operation of an apparatus like that shown in the drawings, if the distance between the towers be very great, the slackening of the draft-rope or tail-rope is frequently a serious inconvenience in many ways, and it is very desirable to provide some simple means for so taking up the slack that the rope shall not sag materially between the towers.

Figs. 6, 7, and 8 illustrate the application to the tail-rope and draft-rope of a tensionweight adapted in each case toV take up slack within one of the towers, so that the rope between the towers is constantly held taut.

Fig. G shows the application of the weight to the tail-rope at a point within the tower A, the tail-rope being carried from the pulley P6 over an extra pulley P11,mounted in the tower, and a weight wv being suspended from the tail-rope at apoint between the pulleys P6 P11 by means of a wheel Vs and a suitable hanger. As the carriage C moves toward the tower A the tail-rope R is paid out rapidly to permit such movement, and at the instant the carriage comes to rest more or less slack of the tail-rope is likely to occur. The suspended weight lw, however, being between the pulley P6 and the drum D', takes up the slack as fast as it is formed, so thatv it never passes beyond the pulley P6 to a point between the towers.

Fig. 7 shows the same arrangement applied to the draft-rope at a point within the tower A, an extra pulley P12 being mounted in the tower at a point between the pulley and the drum D, and the weight being hung on the draft-rope at a point between the pulleys P2 P12 by means of a wheel-hanger W3.

Fig. 8 shows the same device applied to the tail-rope at a point within the tower A', an extra pulley P3 being mounted in the tower to form a support for the tail-rope, and the weight being hung on the tail-rope at a point between the pulleys P3 Pi by means of a wheel-hanger IVl.

In whatever position the. weight may be hung upon the tail-rope or draft-rope it tends to take up the slack throughout the entire circuit made up of the two ropes and terminating at the drums D D', and the various uses of the weight illustrated in Figs. G, 7, and 8 are intended to show the possibility of applying the'weight to any part of that circuit.

The weight should preferably be such as to be somewhat overbalanced by the weight of the empty bucket or scoop, so that when the latter is released from the carriage it may descend freely to the point at which it is to be operated,the tension-weight meanwhile being held in its raised position. p

Having now described and explained my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with the cable, B, the carriage, C, having wheels, W, W, moving on said cable, the tumbler pivoted in the frame and the locking lever also pivoted in the frame and adapted to lock the tumbler, of the tripping frame, F, fastened to the cable and provided with the bars, F', F', fastened to its .side-walls and forming tapering ends for the frame, the pivoted latch, f, and means for preventing oscillation of the latch from its normal position in one direction, the latch being adapted to actuate the locking lever as it moves beneath it in one direction, and the tapering ends of the frame, F, being adapted to serve as guides to secure the proper relation of the frames, C, F, as the one passes the other.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a track cable suspended between suitable supports at its ends, a wheeled carriage moving on the track and a draft-rope fastened to the carriage and running approximately parallel to the cable, of a wheel hanger running on the track cable and provided with means for supporting the draftrope, a cord attached to said wheel hanger and adapted to fix the limit of movement of the hanger along the track from one of its ends and a weight fastened to the cord and adapted to take up the slack thereof as the wheel hanger moves toward said end of the cable.

3. The combination with the cable, B, suitably supported at its ends, of the carriage frame, C, provided with wheels, W, W, moving on said cable, the draft-rope, R, fastened to the carriage and passing over a pulley near one end of the cable, the wheel hanger, G, running on the cable and supporting the draft-rope, the cord, R2, fastened to the wheel hanger and passing over a pulley near the draft-rope pulley, the inclined supplemental track, B', and the carriage, C', running on said supplemental track and connected with the cord, R2, said carriage being adapted to run down said supplemental track and take up slack in the cord as the wheel hanger moves toward the pulley over which the cord passes.

4f. In an apparatus of the class described,the combination with a cable track and suitable supports for the ends thereof, of a wheeled carriage running along said cable track, a draft-rope fastened to the carriage and running to a drum near one of said supports, a tail-rope also fastened to the carriage and running about pulleys mounted in the two supports and thence to a second drum, a wheel hanger and a weight suspended thereon at some'point in the circuit formed by said draft-rope and tail-rope and adapted to take up slack in said circuit.

5. In an apparatus of the class described,the combination with a cable track and suitable supports for the ends thereof, of a wheeled carriage moving on the cable track, a draftrope fastened to said carriage and passing thence to a drum, a tail-rope also fastened to said carriage and passing about pulleys at ICQ IIO

both of said supports and thence to t second drum, and a weight supporting` wheel hanger suspended from seine part of the eirenitV formed by said draft-rope and titil-`rope zttzt point between two contiguous supportingpulleys and adapted to take up slack in the eireuit; substantially as set forth.

G. The combination with t-he towers, A, A1, of the cable, B, the wheeled carriage, C, the draft-rope fastened to the Carriage and pass* ing over a pulley in the tower, A, and thence to the drum, D, the tail-rope passing about@ pulley in the tower, A, and t pulley in the tower, A, and thence to it second drum, D", a wheel hanger resting on the rope at a point between two Contiguous supporting pulleys, and aweight suspended from said wheel hanger.

DANIEL L GALHOUN. Witnesses:

R. H. WILEs, CHARLES O. SHERVEY. 

